GAME PREVIEW: 3/30/24 @ South Carolina

REGULAR SEASON GAME 66: Greenville Swamp Rabbits @ South Carolina Stingrays

2023-24 COMPARISON

HEAD-TO-HEAD COMPARISON (9 of 10 Games Played)

SOUTH DIVISION PLAYOFF RACE 2024 (As of 3/30)

• H2H reads "Games Remaining, Record head-to-head"
• Magic # is determined by 5th Place's maximum points plus one, minus team's current point total. Magic # goes down with every point gained by team in playoff position, and every point lost out on by first team out

WE’RE IN!: It was unfortunate to witness the Swamp Rabbits overtime defeat, but with the point gained against the Stingrays and an Orlando loss to Savannah in regulation, the Greenville Swamp Rabbits will fight for Patrick Kelly’s Cup for a fourth straight year under Head Coach Andrew Lord. The fourth consecutive trip is the third such string of four-plus appearances in the bracket in Swamp Rabbits/Johnstown Chiefs history, and the second time under the Swamp Rabbits moniker. However, even though the Swamp Rabbits are in the dance, there is still much to solidify in the coming weeks...

THE NEXT STEP:  The first goal was getting the “x” next to the team’s name. The next one becomes earning home-ice advantage for at least one round of the playoffs, which looks decently likely in the coming games for Greenville. Based on the maximum possible points for South Carolina and Florida, a win against the Stingrays and a loss of any kind from the Everblades tonight in their weekend finale with the Icemen would ensure for a minimum of one round that the Swamp Rabbits would play the majority of its playoff games in Bon Secours Wellness Arena.

MULTIPLICITY: Getting a point at the professional level in a game is a rather difficult task, which makes getting more than one over 60 minutes quite a difficult affair. Brett Kemp and Carter Souch seemingly make it look easy, with both players notching yet another multi-point game in their ledgers during the overtime defeat last night. Souch and Kemp mirrored each other with a goal and an assist, bringing Souch’s season-long total of multi-point outings to a whopping team-leading mark of 18, with Kemp’s nine such instances good for second on the Swamp Rabbits. Souch’s highest point total of the year is four, achieved last Friday against Jacksonville with a hat trick and an assist, while Kemp’s marker is three, achieved twice on opening night against Norfolk with a goal and two assists, and again with three helpers on March 2nd at Atlanta.

ALL GOOD THINGS MUST COME TO AN END: Austin Magera’s overtime winner came on the power play, ending quite an illustrious streak for the Swamp Rabbits penalty kill. Magera’s marker on the man-advantage ended the Swamp Rabbits penalty-killing streak at 25 in a row, 12+ games in which the team didn’t allow a power play goal since February 24th against the Rapid City Rush. Dating back to February 17th, the Swamp Rabbits have staved off 32 of their last 34 kills (94.1%).

ONE MORE TIME: For the final time in this regular season, the Swamp Rabbits and Stingrays will square off for bragging rights in the Palmetto State Rivalry. The Swamp Rabbits, by point total, won the season series already against South Carolina, and come into the finale in North Charleston Coliseum with points in five of the last six meetings between the clubs. Boasting an overall 5-3-1-0 record worth 11 points of the team’s 89 in the standings (12.4% of the team’s total), the Swamp Rabbits have seen much of that success come in North Charleston Coliseum, with Greenville going 3-1-0-0 in the four games previously played in the Low Country. Since the move of the Johnstown Chiefs to Greenville in 2010, this rivalry has been as close as it gets: the Swamp Rabbits own the record head-to-head of 83-77-18.